Pages

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Turns out the perks of civilization -- wool blankets, canned food, Netflix, flu shots -- just aren't worth it. The unknown tribe that came out of the Peruvian Amazon the week before last, fleeing armed cocaine traffickers, it turns out (not illegal loggers), has decided to go back to the jungle.

At some point during their contact with the outside world, several tribe members apparently contracted the flu virus. Only some of them agreed to receive vaccine shots.

Before they went back, some who were showing flu-like symptoms were immunised by government doctors. That some of the tribe were already ill could explain why they took the unprecedented step of entering a settled village last month.

It has also emerged, however, that they were fleeing heavily armed drug traffickers who had attacked them upstream in Peru – showing that outside incursions are being made deep into the heart of their traditional protected territories.